Release notes

NXStation v0.2.0 — PDF manuals, playtime analytics, expanded systems

· v0.2.0 Latest draft

Update v0.2.0 is the recommended build if you are on v0.1.8 or earlier. It adds PDF game manuals, RetroArch playtime analytics, more default systems, carousel/launch transitions, standalone Tico core support, and a new website wiki + blog.

Website: https://nxstation.com Wiki: https://nxstation.com/wiki.html Blog: https://nxstation.com/blog.html Downloads: https://github.com/jiraiya78/NXStation/releases Discussion: GBATemp / GitHub Issues

Highlights

  • PDF game manuals — scrape Manual from ScreenScraper (off by default); read in-app with cover+spread layout, zoom, and pan (Y → Menu → Show Metadata → Manual)
  • Playtime Analytics and Personality Metrics (main carousel Y menu) from RetroArch runtime logs
  • More systems in the bundled config: Atari 5200/7800/Lynx/Jaguar/ST, GameCube, Wii, Saturn, Arcade, and 3DS
  • Standalone Tico cores for gc/wii/3ds — download tico-dolphin.nro / tico-azahar.nro to sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/ and set Settings → Core Paths (experimental)
  • System carousel fade; game launch zoom + fade (~1s) before RetroArch
  • Edit settings/roms_config.json → Scan Games / Rescan reloads config (no full restart)
  • Hide Empty Systems defaults to On
  • Website Wiki and Blog with full user guides and mirrored release notes

Added

  • PDF manual viewer (ManualViewerView, MuPDF build) — PDFs saved to roms/{systemId}/manuals/{stem}-manual.pdf
  • Scrape menu Manual toggle (off by default)
  • Y menu → Personality Metrics (gamer tags, nostalgia breakdown, time-warp stats)
  • Y menu → Playtime Analytics (session style, time-of-day heatmap, backlog-dust score)
  • Default systems: atari5200, atari7800, atarilynx, atarijaguar, atarist, gc, wii, saturn, arcade, 3ds (28 systems total)
  • Carousel left/right fade dissolve; launch zoom-in + fade-out transition (~1 second)
  • Settings → Core Paths supports standalone .nro cores under sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/
  • Website wiki (wiki.html) and blog (blog.html)

Changed

  • Config::reload() runs at the start of library scan so user-edited systems appear
  • Bundled systems missing from the SD roms_config.json are merged in on upgrade (user entries preserved)
  • Hide Empty Systems default is On (saved settings unchanged)
  • 3ds is no longer auto-pruned; ps2 remains retired
  • Playtime analytics only count RetroArch runtime logs — standalone Tico cores are excluded

Notes after upgrading

  • Enable RetroArch Settings → Saving → Save runtime log before expecting analytics data
  • For GameCube / Wii / 3DS, install Tico cores manually — see the wiki
  • Place ROMs under sdmc:/roms/{id}/, then Scan Games
  • With Hide Empty Systems On, empty systems stay hidden until they have at least one ROM
  • Optional carousel wallpapers at data/backgrounds/{id}.jpg

Requirements

  • Modded Switch (e.g. Atmosphere) with homebrew enabled
  • Title Override is required — hold R while launching any game, open the Homebrew Menu, then start NXStation
  • RetroArch for Switch at sdmc:/switch/retroarch_switch.nro
  • RetroArch cores under sdmc:/retroarch/cores/ (or standalone cores in NXStation/cores/)
  • ROMs under sdmc:/roms/ (or your custom ROMs path in Settings)

Installation

  1. Download NXStation.nro from this release (or Settings → Check for Updates from v0.1.8+).
  2. Copy to sdmc:/switch/NXStation/NXStation.nro
  3. Launch via Title Override (hold R → Homebrew Menu → NXStation).

Upgrading keeps your existing settings/ and data/ on SD. New bundled systems are merged into roms_config.json automatically.

Thank you to everyone who tests, reports issues, and keeps the homebrew scene going.

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